I have to admit, I am probably the last person to tell someone how to prepare for Book-in-a-Week (BIW). I am one of the biggest procrastinators when it comes to writing. For the past four years, I have only been saying, “I am going to start writing fiction”. I have found all sorts of reasons…
Chances are, if you are serious about a career in writing, you have more than one project to work on at a time. You might even be at different stages with each project. Perhaps you are working on edits and revisions of your novel as well as planning the outline of another. You could also…
Writer’s Block. It is a phrase that strikes fear in the hearts of writers everywhere. The day the muse calls in sick. At some point, every writer deals with it: the blank page, not knowing what to write next or where the story is going. It’s Easier than You Think Here are ten quick tips…
The decision to create an outline for a work-in-progress (WIP) is truly an individual one. Most writers are divided into plotters or pansters. Plotters would not dream of starting their novel without first creating an outline. Pansters literally fly by the seat of their pants. They prefer to let the muse run the show and…
Sometimes the twenty four hours in a day is not enough time to get it all done, especially if you’re trying to write a novel and you do not have the luxury of a big block of time every day to get it done. When Stephen King was asked how he wrote, he replied: “One…
If I had to do it all over again, I would have gone to college for a degree in English or Literature and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, instead of the science-laden degree of nursing. The majority of my writing education to date has been largely self-taught. And yet, there is still…
Food is a large part of most cultures and one of the main guests at any celebration. A lot of our memories of growing up involve food: the smell of a roast on a Sunday afternoon, barbecues in the summer, and special cookies made at Christmas. Food and life are tightly interwoven. Food can serve…
Do you have an ideal reader? You know the one reader that you think about as you are sculpting your prose; that reader who is sitting on your shoulder as you look for the proper way to turn a phrase, or escalate a series of events? This idea has come and gone throughout my writing…